Right now, elections are all about choosing the lesser of the two evils for many people. They disagree with ideologies of both parties. However, they have to choose one party. Why? We have an outdated electoral system, that's why.
Under our system, let's say there are 3 candidates. Joe Johnson, Bob Johnson, and Bill Johnson. They are running for Senator of Minnesota, let's say. Joe is a Republican and Bob is a Democrat. Bill is part of the Green Party.
Let's say that in Minnesota, 60% are Liberal and 40% are Conservative (I'm making up the stats here). Under our system, if people truly voted the way they wanted, Bob and Bill could split the 60%, since they are both liberal candidates. Let's say Bob got 32% and Bill got 28%. Joe Johnson would get 40% of the vote since there are no other major conservative candidates and win as Bob and Bill both got less than 40%. So even though most of the population didn't want Joe to be Senator, he gets elected Senator.
Alternative Votes fix this problem. Let's say the exact same scenario rolls out, except with Alternative Votes. Under Alternative Votes, the people would get to rank their candidates. So let's say that people who support Bill Johnson put Bob Johnson as their second choice. First, they would look at all the first votes.
Results After 1st Round
Joe Johnson - 40%
Bob Johnson - 32%
Bill Johnson - 28%
Then, they would look if any candidate had at least 50% of the vote. Since no candidate had 50% of the vote, the bottom-most candidate would be dropped out. Anyone who voted for that candidate would instead have their vote transferred to the second choice.
Results After 2nd Round
Bob Johnson - 60%
Joe Johnson - 40%
After the second round, since Bob would have over 50% of the vote, he would win. This would be more democratic than the previous scenario where Joe won.
Alternative Votes allow the electoral process to be more democratic and more true to the actual popular will. It also allows third party candidates to triumph more often.
We in America pride ourselves on being the first modern democratic republic. Now let's take it a step further and make us even more democratic.
After all, that's what makes our country great, isn't it?
